Event Outline
The Osaka Asian Film Festival aims to facilitate human resources development and exchange, to invigorate the Osaka economy, and to increase the city's appeal, through providing opportunities to watch excellent Asian films, supporting filmmaking in Osaka and attracting filmmakers from Asian countries and regions to Osaka. Promoting Osaka worldwide as a gateway city for Asian films, and engaging with many people from the fields of culture, art, education, tourism and business, from Osaka and all of Asia, OAFF works as an open platform to contribute to the development of Osaka and cinema.
Marking its 18th edition this year, OAFF, under programming director TERUOKA Sozo, will again select high-quality Asian films. The Competition section, which receives increased recognition every year, will again select films previously unreleased in Japan. The regular sections, Special Screenings and Indie Forum, and other special programs will also feature a wide variety of excellent Asian films.
OAFF attracts a large number of viewers from all over Japan and overseas, as well as from the local Kansai area. From Osaka to all of Japan and all of Asia, OAFF introduces many films and strives to make Osaka a hub of moving image culture.
Dates & Venues
March 10 – 19, 2023
ABC Hall, Cine Libre Umeda, Umeda Burg 7, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, and the National Museum of Art, Osaka
Line-up
The special opening film and closing film will be announced in early February.
Except for the special opening film and closing film, the number of films chosen for this year's festival comes to 48 in total, and these include 13 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 2 Asia Premieres, and 19 Japan Premieres. Films from 15 countries and regions, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, France, the USA, Canada, and Japan, will be screened.
Please check the line-up of OAFF 2023 here: http://www.oaff.jp/2023/en/program/index.html
[Special Opening Film]
The film will be screened on March 15, the first day of a run of films hosted at the main venue, ABC Hall. A special opening ceremony will be held before the screening.
[Closing Film]
The film will be screened on March 19, the final day of the festival, at ABC Hall. A closing ceremony will be held before the screening.
[Competition] 13 films
This section will present 13 films chosen from films completed on or after 1st October 2021 and unreleased in Japan. The jurors will choose the winners of the Grand Prix and Most Promising Talent Award from these films.
Among the films in the Competition section, there are many highlights including “December”, a tough courtroom drama and the latest work by Anshul CHAUHAN; “The Sunny Side of the Street”, a Hong Kong drama mixing family and immigration from Malaysian-born LAU Kok-rui; “Is This Heaven?”, the latest work from veteran director IMAOKA Shinji that sees him reunite with the actors of “Reiko and the Dolphin” for a life-after-death story; and two from up-and-coming talents, “People Who Talk to Plushies Are Kind”, the latest work from KANEKO Yurina who has adapted a novel by OMAE Ao; and “Where Love Goes”, a MIYAJIMA Fuka film about teens facing death and finding redemption in a journey depicting the stunning sights of Hokkaido.
[Spotlight] 14 films
In this section, the films are not yet famous but are expected to gain attention this year because these highlight a new talent or movement in cinema. With the support of Kobe College, Department of English, the Bangladeshi film “Hawa” will be screened.
The Spotlight section features many debut feature and short films from a new generation of talents. “Leonor Will Never Die” from Martika Ramirez ESCOBAR took Sundance 2022 by storm with its unbridled love of films as told through a lead heroine who disappears into them; “Leave at Door, Bell X” from LEE Joo-young, an award-winning actress from “A Quiet Dream” and “Maggie”; and “Hawa” from Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, which was Bangladesh's submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film' category of the 2023 Academy Awards. There is also the stunning stop-motion animation “Swallow Flying to the South” by LIN Mochi which offers a child's view of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
[Indie Forum] 9 films
This program will present 9 films by innovative and challenging talents. The JAPAN CUTS AWARD will be bestowed by the Japan Society to one Japanese film selected from this section (including Director in Focus: TANAKA Haruna).
The Indie Forum section has a wealth of films from Japanese talents. Documentarian/fiction filmmaker FUNAHASHI Atsushi introduces us to “The Burdens of the Past”, a film that brings to life the difficulties that former criminals have when it comes to reintegrating into society; “Sekai” by TSUKADA Marina is fresh from playing at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023; “New Religion” a film from Keishi Kondo that has the power to revitalise the Japanese horror landscape; and then there is “Kanro” and “Shall We Love You?” two films from promising talent TANAKA Haruna whose one-cut technique and trust in her actors brings out touching short stories.
[Indie Forum]
There will be a focus on up-and-coming director TANAKA Haruna as OAFF will screen her SAPPORO INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL film “Shall We Love You?” and her latest work “Kanro”.
[Special Programs]
This special program will present a wide range of excellent films from contemporary Hong Kong cinematic output.
A special gala screening will be held with the cooperation of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Economic and Trade Office Tokyo.
[Special Screenings] 2 films
This section will present two films from Asia which are judged to be both beautifully shot and topical.
[Supported Program]
Based in Osaka, the Housen Cultural Foundation supports film study and production in graduate schools. This program will show the three films supported by the Housen Cultural Foundation. Free Admission.
[Special Presentation] < Expo '70 Osaka and TAKAHASHI Katsuo> 3 films
Short films produced for Expo ‘70 Osaka by the late filmmaker TAKAHASHI Katsuo, including a documentary-drama about friendship between an Australian teacher and elementary school students in Osaka, and an animation that was shown at the Japanese government's pavilion. Free Admission.
